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Left-Brain Right-Brain False?

I have to admit, I’m not particularly knowledgeable in the area of neuroscience, my experience being limited to second-hand information from my sister (who is a doctor) and from Grey’s Anatomy (the latter being the greater influence, sadly enough). So I can’t particularly put any weight behind an opinion on this, but self-proclaimed “armchair neuroscience minor” at The Refined Geek, says that the whole right-brain = logical and left-brain = creative dichotomy is, in fact, a bit of a farce,.

He says that lateralization of the brain (i.e. the dividing up of the brain into different parts for different functions) in fact shows that creative and logical functions are evident on both sides of the brain.

Wikipedia would agree (all hail Wikipedia), but having done a physics degree, I am aware that there are many things that scientists disagree on – even things that are considered “conclusive” to some are not so unequivocal to others. There’s countless incidences of things being “proven” in the history of physics, only to be debunked later when technology catches up and can measure things more precisely. I would suppose something so complex as pinpointing what part of the brain is used for a particular function might leave quite a large room for error, would it not?

But like I said, my knowledge of neuroscience is limited to pop culture, so let me throw this one out to you sexy neuro-geeks: any advocates or naysayers of the left-and-right brain differential? Care to comment?

21 Responses to Left-Brain Right-Brain False?

It's also my understanding that it's a discredited notion (although I should point out that I'm studying computer science/physics and not psychology!). As evidence, hemispherectomies don't have a substantial effect on patients' personalities. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hemispherectomy#Resu…

I studied 2 years of psychology and have just completed 6 months of applied science and we are taught that it's also a discredited notion. I recall learning something about split brain patients… I studied psychology a few years ago now so I can't really remember.

I read a book that says that in fact Left Brain and Right Brain is incorrect because the gene that causes Left Handedness also cause the brain to flipflop (kinda) so our brains are an almost mirror image and not all Right handed folk are Left brained infact the gene gives you a 50% chance of being left handed. Well at least this is my interptetation…lol

I think there's a lot about the human brain/mind we don't know about yet. It seems like simple explanations are the ones that get overturned the quickest. One thing is fairly clear: we like finding patterns and sometimes we make up patterns where none exist. I'm sure the truth is much weirder and much more complex than just left brain/right brain.

The Left-Brain/Right-Brain idea is usually used in reference to the way we focus while performing different tasks. In this sense, it's a metaphor for something that is clearly true: that we are capable of different cognitive modes. A person trying to draw a picture, for instance, while coming at it too analytically, will probably draw a bad picture and feel frustrated doing it. Left-Brain/Right-Brain works perfectly well as a metaphor or model or analogy for this.
All the people who have trouble with this are perhaps being too Left-Brained… ; )

I've only done one year in psychology, but different identified parts of the brain do indeed seem responsible for certain processes.
maybe a bio-psychologist could create a list of "creative" and "logical" tasks and monitor the activities of a participant's brain via PET scans?

i'd be kinda surprised if that hasn't already been done though =/
blah I got nothing.

Regardless of where in the brain these functions take place, it seems very evident to me as an artist that the shift from left brain (analytic) to right brain (creative) must take place in order to accomplish certain problem solving and "artistic" tasks. Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain is an interesting book. Check it out.

I'm a psychology professor — the most important thing to understand is that as long as the brain is intact and functional, it works as a system and where a specific function is localized is completely unimportant. This only becomes critical in the context of disease or damage that is localized.

It's also important to understand that each person's brain is somewhat unique, and this applies to localization as well. For example, handedness matters — to illustrate, in right-handed people language is primarily a function of the left frontal lobe, but in left-handed people the two hemispheres tend to be more balanced. This is why in the case of something like a stroke that is focused on one side, a right-handed person is often more impaired than a lefty.

I am also a psychologist (albeit a business psychologist, not a neuroscientist). There is no research that backs the claim of right vs left. This was a concept that was scooped up and embellished years ago by the media. I think the concept is more apt as a metaphor (as another commenter mentioned earlier). People inherently create schemas to understand the world-a schema being a short and quick rule of thumb or category for information. The right vs left concept allows us to create labels for ourselves and others. It’s a quick and easy reference that allows us to explain certain behaviors. Labels are not necessarily a good thing all the time, but it helps us to make sense of something is inherently convoluted.

Years ago I knew this as just specialization or orientation. Right brain/left brain specialization. Example to the split brain theory: when they cut one man's corpus callosum his right hand, literally, did not know what his left hand was doing.

I'd like to get some opinions on this concept, if anyone has any thoughts.
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